Timing device for explosion-engines.



E. H.,LANSDELL. TIMING DEVICE FOR EXPLOSION ENGINESY` APPLICATION man DEc.31,1914.

1,165,610. Patented De@.28,1915.

l WITNESSES -8 56 ATTORN EY FREDERICK HURST LANSDELL, OF ATLANTA, GEORGIA.

TIMING DEVICE FOR EXPLCSON-ENGINES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Deo. 28, 1915.

Application filed December 31, 1924. VSerial No. 879,916.

T0 all *aC/tom t may; concern:

Be it known that i, Fininnmoii H. LANs- DELL, a citizen of the United States, residing at Atlanta, in the county of Fulton and State of eorgia, have invented a new and useful 'iiming Bevice for Emplosion-ilngines, of which 'the following is a specifica tion.

This invention has reference to timing devices for explosion engines and is designed more particularly for multi-cylinder engines, especially the engine employed upon the Ford automobile, although features of the invention are applicable to use in connection with other makes of automobiles, or even with engines employed in other relations than 'upon automobiles.

The present invention utilizes certain features found in the timing device of the Ford automobile, but by certain changesv and modifications of structure some defects in suoli type of timing device are eliminated.

in the type of tiniingdevice referred to a collector is mounted upon the cam shaft of the engine and rotates with it. ln the path of this collector is a series of contacts in number corresponding to the number of cylinders of the engine, and these contacts are mounted upon a rockable member by means of which the time of contact is regulated, that is, the arrangement is such that the spark is advanced or'retarded after the usual custom. The rockable member ha's Vits 'contacts connected to electric conductors ing movements of the rock member' carry-I ing the contacts in the path of the collector on the cam shaft.

Experience has shown that repeated op erations of the rockable member have the eifect of ultimately damaging and oftentimes breaking the conductors where they7 are connected to the rockable member, thus producing various engine troubles.

lilith the present invention the roekable member with its contactsis retained, but .is so arranged that it rocks in a seat or holder in which it snugly yet freely moves, and such seat and member may readily be united in a dustproof manner, thus protecting the moving parts of the timer from the deleterious effects of dust and dirt. From the rockable member with its contacts theicurrent is taken off by other contacts so the conductors remain stationary and consequentlyv are not subjected to the treatment which is productive of harmfull eifectsin the prevailing type of timing device, especially as employed on the Ford automobile. Moreover, the electrical connections between the conductors and the rockable member are in the nature of rubbing connections, wherefore the contacts where engaging are always kept bright and the full efficiency of the current is obtained, with corresponding efficiency in the effect of the current at the spark plugs.

The invention will be best understood from a consideration of the following detailed description taken in connection withA the accompanying drawings forming. a part of this specicatioii, with the further uiiderstanding that while the drawings show a practical form of the invention, the latter is not confined to any strict conformity with the showing of the drawings, but may be changed and modified so long as such changes and modiications mark no material departure from the salient features of the invention.

In the drawings: Figure l is a front elevation of the improved tiinei' and also showing a small portion of the front plate of the engine to which it is applied. Fia. 2 is a vertical section back of the face of the timer as seen in Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a section onthe line 3-3 of Fig. 2. Fig. L is a rear elevation of the rockable member.

Fig. 5 is a detail section through one of the yieldable contacts. Fig. 6 is a` perspective view of one of the elongated plates carried by the rockable member. Fig. 7 is a perspective view of one of the series of contacts carried by the roekable member for engagement by the collector mounted on the cam shaft.

heferring` to the drawings there is shown a portion l of the engine head usually found on the engine of the Ford automobile, and there is also shown a -small portion ofthe cani shaft '2 of the engine extended through the head l. Mounted on the cam shaft is the customary spring-urged collecting roller 3 running on the inner periphery of an insulating ring 4E where it engages in order contact blocks 5 embedded in the ring 4. This ring. 4 with its circular series of contact blocks is carried by the cX lindrical portion t3 of a conical shell 7 heidI7 in position by a spring arm 8 pivotally mounted on the engine head 1 by a bolt 9. Frilhe shell 7 is provided with an arm 10 to which is connected a link or reach rod 11 carried to some convenient point of manipulation.

So far the parts described are found in the Ford automobile and constitute parts of the timing device such as is commonly used upon the Ford automobile.

The shell 7 of the timing device is sov mounted in the .F ord automobile as to be capable of rocking movements to vary the time of engagement of the contact roller 3 with the contacts 5 with respect to the movements of the engine pistons to advance or retard the spark in the well known maiiner. In the timer of the Ford automobile the blocks 5 are each provided with a stem 12, carried through the cylindrical Wall G to the exterior of the shell or casing 7 and there the stems terminate in binding posts by means of which conductors are connected and led away. These conductors participate in the rocking movements of the timing shell creasing 7 constituting the adjustable commutator of the timer, and as this commutator is frequently rocked the conductors are put under more or less bending strain and sometimes 'break either completely or in part and cause corresponding trouble in the working of the engine. rlhe present invention contemplates a remedy, for this troublesome condition by a rearrangement and modification of the parts with some additional features. Applied to the cylindrical portion G eX- terior thereto is a collar 13 of insulating material, preferably vulcanized liber, which collar has at the end toward the conical portion of the shell a substantially radial flange 1i. The stems 12' of the contact blocks 5 are continued through the collar 13 and are there threaded as shown at 15 to each receive a. nut 16. Applied to the eX- terior of the collar 13 are elongated contact plates 17 conforming to the curvature of the exterior of the collar. and cach of a length somewhat shorter than a quarter of the circumferential length of the collar. Each stem 1Q traverses a corresponding' con- `tact plate 1 7 near one end of the latter, and the nut 10 serves to hold the contact plate snugly to the collar. The plate can not turn on the stem because lodged against the llangelil. That long edge of each plate 17 remote from the flange 1'lis beveled as indicatcd at 1S. and the corresponding edge of the collar 1i-3 is similarly beveled as shown at 19 for a purpose which` will presently apl'niar.

Exterior to the collar 13 there is provided a ring or circular yoke 2O preferably of insulating material such as vulcanized liber. This ring yoke 2O is secured to the engine head 1 on the outer face thereof concentric mesme with the shaft 2 by clips 21, each made fast at one end to the yoke by screws 22 or otherwise, and at the other end made fast to the plate 1 by bolts Q3 which may be the same bolts which ordinarily serveto hold the engin:` head to the engine. Of course. some other means may be employed for the same purpose, but that described forms a` convenient means for securing the ring or yoke 2() in place. T his ring carries a series of spring-urged plungers 2i each mounted in a :asing embedded in the ring. Each plunger has a stem 26 surrounded by a spring QT and at the end remote from the plunger 2iextending through a head 28 at the corresponding end of the casing The stem 2G may be headed, as shown at :29, to limit the projection of the plunger 24 from the casing under the action of the spring` T he plungers Qi constitute yieldable circuit terminals orbrushes located. to engage the outer faces the elongated contact plates 17, and these plates are long enough to permit the full rocking nnivenient demainled of the roclv'able member or coininutator of the timing device.

i''istributing conductors 3() are each connected to a respective one of the plunger casings Q5 by solder or otherwise. and in ordeiI to protect the connections the conductors may be carried through appropriate pass ges 31. in the yoke 2O toward the in-l Vterior tlnreo'li before being connected to the respective c; .The outer or face portion ai" th j ring 2O is rabbeted or channeled. as shown at Si), to receive the flange 1i of the collar 13.

The couunatator or rockable portion the-'timer is introduced into the ring and the then inner edge of the collzr first engages the plungers 2i spaced about the ring at lsubstantially ninety degrees apart. The coiltinued entering movement of the commutator causes a retraction of the plungers in opposition to the springs 2 this being facilitated by the beveled povn lo tions 19 and 1S of the collar 15S and platesv 1T. 1When the colnlnutator ls fully seated with its inner edge within and guided by an annular rib 33 on the outer face ol the head l. the plungers 2l. all bear upon the outer faces of the plates l? being urged thereagainst by the expansive force olx the springs 2T now under greater compression than before the connnutator was introduced. llvhcn the connnutator is fully seated the flange li is lodged in the rabbet which is of annular form and. with the lit ol' the parts closev` the flange seals in the working parts of the con'nnutator against accession of dust` dirt or moisture thereto. Since the plungers 2l bear with considerable force upon the plates .1T there is always good rubbing contact with the maintenance of bright surfaces and eillcient conducting conditions.

introduction et the moving parte in Y' damage or breakage.. Consequently ciency oi' the conductors is not at all either by weakening or by iinal n troubles which have heretotore been encountered are entirely eliminated. y no instance is there the possibility ci' weakening the cari-yin@ capacity of the conductors by breakage of the strands thereont or the cutting out of one or more cylinders by a. complete breakage oi' the entire coiiductor or conductors. -I `urthermOre, the necessity or" the installation of new cables which sometimes occurs with the prevailing system because of the shortening of the separate conductors due to breakage to an extent forbidding their further use, is ,entirely avoided by the present invention, since there is no cause ior the breakage' of conductors. The yoke 2G is reinforced and prevented from warping by a metal ring 34 on the face toward the head1 and heat conduction from the plate l through this metal ring is prevented to a suitable extent by another ring ci' asbestos or other suitable heat insulating material interposed between the ring 34 and the yoke 20.

The spring arm 8 may be moved to one side or the other on its securing bolt 9 as a. pivot, and at the free end is formed with projection 35 entering a socket 37 in the apes: of the conical part of the casing 7 in line with the axis oi' the shaft 2, se that the con'inutator portion of the timer may be y rocked on such axis With which the flange 14 and its seat in the yolie 2O are concentric. 7'he timer as described provides a means iere'by the vehicle is rendered thief-proof, .ce it onl -iecessary to swing the spring c to remove the coininutator, 'ference in construction f of tne parts to each other 'ther a thief noi' a me love the vehicle by its own iin parts oi the structure have ed as made oi' insulating matel v`lar-ized liber, it will be under ny appropriate insulating matel ian vulcanized liber may be used,

and that metal may be employed'in lace of insulating material with the electE cal parts suitably insulated For instance,

59' it is entirely feasible to make the flange 14 l 2C of metal instead of vulcanized y insulatingrnaterial with such parts as the contact parts l? and plungers 7F with 'their carriers suitably insulated from the nange and yoke, respectively.

. contact, a series otP relatively lined ano itator cannot be sub` and a roclable mounting interposed between 'contacts being termed with aresent structure the elastic arni 8 constitutes trie means tor holding the roclable member or eoinmutator in its seat in the yoke 20, so that the ccinrnutator is readily reino-veci by the simple expedient olf swinging the i rin 8 to one side thereof, thus releasing the commutator so that it may be lifted away from the yoke.

-l/Vhat is claimed is l. il timer structure for multi-cylinder explosion engines, comprising a rotatable contact, a circular series ot relatively iixed contacts, and an interinediately located series of bridging contacts between 'the rotary and fixed contacts and provided with a mounting rockable to vary the time of conipletion ot the circuits with respect to the movements oic the engine pistons, said rockable mounting including` a cover portion inclosing the contacting parts of the bridging contacts and the contacts with which they ooact, vand said rockable mounting being readily removable as a Whole from the reniainder of the timer structure.

2. A timer structure for multi-cylinder explosion engines comprising a rotatable contact,v a circular series ot' relatively lined contacts arranged about and spaced from the rotatable contact a'nd provided with a mounting supporting them, and an intermediately located series of bridging contacts between the rotatable and fixed contacts and provided with a mounting` rotatable to vary the time of completion oit the circuits with respect to the movements of the engine pistons, said rockable mounting including a cover portion having a spread to include all the contacts, the mounting for the fixed contacts being provided with a seat for the cover portion of the rockable ineinber and said rockable member being insertible into and rcmovableas a Whole from its seat.

A timer structure for multi-cyli.,

ico

explosion engines, comprising rota4 dially yieldable contacts surrounding and spaced irom the rotatable contact and prvided with a mounting supporting them,

the rotatable contact and the radially yield# able contacts and provided with a circular series of bridging contacts corresponding in number to the relatively iixed yicldable contacts, the mounting carrving the yieldable t for the rockable member into which the latter .is readily insertible' and trom which it is readily removable as a whole. y

4. A timer structure for multi-cylinder explosion engines, comprising a 1rotatable contact, a circular series of radially yield able contacts concentric with .d sp. from the rotatable contact and provided with a mounting carrying them, and e rcclable 1139 mounting located between the rotatable and radially yieldable 4 contacts and provided with a circular series of bridging contacts each having one end in the path of the rotatable Contact and circumferentially elongated at the other end to maintain engagement with the radially yieldable contacts during the rocking movements of the rocln.

able member, the mounting for the yieldable contacts being provided with a seat t'or the reception of the roclnible member and the circumferentially 'elongated ends of the bridging contacts being beveled on the edges rst engaging the yieldable contacts on being introduced into the lirst-named mounting.

5. A timer structure for multi-cylinder explosion engines comprising a rotatable contact, a circular series of radially yieldable contacts being provided with a seat for the reception of the rockable member and the circumferentially elongated ends of the bridging contacts being beveled on the edges first engaging the yieldable contacts on being introduced into theV first-named mount` ing, said rockable member belng also provided with a cover portion having a spread sufficient to cover all the contacts and fit to the seat of the tirst-named mounting to form a dust guard.

6. A timer structure explosionA engines comprising a rotatable contact, a circular series ofrrelatively fixed radially yieldable contacts concentric with the first-named Contact and spaced therefrom, said radially yieldable contlicts being provided with a mounting in the iform ot" a ring-shaped yoke provided with iQcirCula'rrabbet about its innerperiphery, and a rockable member in the form of a shell covering the rotatable Contact and provided Awith a marginal radial flange adapted to the rabbet in the ring-shaped yoke; said rockable member having bridging contacts each ivit'h one end in the path of the rotatable contact and the other end circiimierentially elongated and 'in engagement with a respective one of the radially yieldable contacts,

7. A timer structure for multi-cylinder for multi-cylinder ideama with one end in the path oi. the rotatable contact and the other end circumferen elongated and in engagement with' a respective oneotl the radially yieldable con tacts, and a yieldable pivoted holding arm for engaging the axial portion oll the roel:- able member to hold it to its seat in the yoke ring and movable out of the path thereotx for the bodily removal of the rockable member from the remainder ot the timer structure. l v

8. A timer structure for inulticylinder explosion engines comprising a rotatable contact, a rockable member in the form of a shell provided with inner and outer rings of insulating material concentric with the axis of rotation of the rotatable member7 said rockable member also having a peripherally expanded marginal flange and a circular ries of bridging contacts` each with an inner end in the path of the rotatable contact and an outer end circumferentially elongated exterior to the outer insulated Aring and electrically connected with the inner end of the bridging contact, and a surroundingl ring-shaped yoke of a size to Vreceive the rotatable member Where carrying the circumferentially elongated contacts, said yoke having a circular series of radially yieldable contacts each comprising a spring-pressed plunger in position to engage the circiunferentially elonlsajated end ot' a respective bridging contact` tbe plungersbeing adapted to be connected with *distributing conductors and the ring-shaped yoke having a circular seat for the radial flange ot the rotatable member, and an axial i holding means tor the rotatable member tor retaining it in its-seat and movable out ol the path oi' the rotatable member to release it lor bodily removal trom the yoke.

ln testimonyj that l claim the foregoing as my ovvn, l have hereto al'i'iXQfril my signature in the presence of tivo witn il liiillllltitll( ll U RST liriNSllEliln ll'itnesses: p

C. lil. tuinman, @noi l?. iloNoviN.

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